The Law as Schoolmaster Pointing to Jesusby IpswichSDA
3:24Galatians 3:24
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
The law was the schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ so they might be justified by faith, especially the moral law revealing sin and making them feel their need of pardon and peace through repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. That schoolmaster is both the moral code of the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law, with the whole sacrificial system founded on Christ and its shed blood pointing from Abel onward to His blood to be shed for the world. The law does this work by exposing sin and guilt and condemning the transgressor, yet it cannot remove guilt, pardon, or make righteous, so it drives the convicted sinner beyond itself to Christ the sin-bearing Saviour and His imparted righteousness. The passage in Galatians 3:19-25 gives plain light about this law that is to be accepted and investigated from the Scriptures by each person for himself, and its truth is meant to sanctify those who hold it and bring forth fruit after Christ's order.
Law as Schoolmaster
Galatians 3:24 speaks especially of the moral law as the schoolmaster that reveals sin and awakens sinners to feel their need of Christ and to flee to Him for pardon and peace through repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ, that they might be justified by faith. The sacrificial ceremony is also the schoolmaster bringing sinful people to consider Christ, with its work beginning at the beginning with Cain and Abel in the school of obedience where salvation by the blood of Jesus was taught through offerings pointing to Christ. God prepared the whole sacrificial system with Christ as the foundation of the whole system and of the whole Jewish economy, and the shedding of blood in sacrifice symbolized the blood of Christ to be shed for the world, while Cain's refusal to accept God's plan to be saved by Christ's blood led to Abel's death.
The offerings beginning with the sacrifice associated with Abel symbolized Christ's blood shed for the world, with Christ as the foundation of the Jewish economy. The schoolmaster that brings sinners to Christ is both the ceremonial law and the moral code of the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial law was given by Christ and, though no longer to be observed, remains glorious and worthy of its divine Originator, and Paul set it before the Jews to show its true position and value, its place in the plan of redemption, and its relation to the work of Christ.
Its sanctuary service typified grand truths to be revealed through successive generations: the cloud of incense ascending with Israel's prayers shows His righteousness that alone makes the sinner's prayer acceptable, the bleeding victim testified of a Redeemer to come, and the visible token of divine presence shone from the holy of holies, and through these types faith was kept alive through ages of darkness and apostasy until the advent of the promised Messiah. Christ was the originator of the Jewish system of sacrifices, and His death fulfilled the typical law. The moral law exposed sin in Saul's experience: in its light he saw himself as a sinner though he had thought he kept it, and the law thus led him to repent and trust Jesus as Saviour.
Leading Sinners to Christ
God's requirements act as a moral mirror, revealing a person's defects and leading that person to Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour, and in this way the law serves as schoolmaster to bring people to Christ. It brings people to Christ by exposing their sin and their need of a Saviour, as the Holy Spirit applies its principles to the heart and Christ's life makes those principles plain, thereby revealing the need for His cleansing blood and justifying righteousness so that they may be justified by faith. It exposes sin by condemning the transgressor, yet it cannot pardon or make the sinner righteous, and its condemning work drives people to Christ, who died for sin and imparts His righteousness so they may be presented to the Father in His righteous character.
The law acts as schoolmaster by revealing sin and the sinner's guilt, but it cannot remove guilt or pardon the transgressor; it points the sinner beyond repentance to Christ the sin-bearing Saviour and to justification by faith. It is holy, just, and good, and by exposing sin it makes sin unmistakable and exceedingly sinful, while warning and instructing people in the way back to God and showing sinners their guilt and need to return to loyalty to God. It cannot remove guilt or pardon, but points the sinner to Christ the remedy and to justification by faith.
When obeyed in practical life the law exposes sin and leads people to recognize Christ as sin's only remedy, for the law itself is holy, just, and good, but sin uses the commandment to reveal how sinful sin is and to bring the sinner to a sense of need. Self-righteousness resists this purpose, while the repentant sinner finds deliverance through Jesus Christ and learns willing obedience and the Saviour's meekness and lowliness. The law of God points the sinner to Christ as his only hope, for after sinning man became part of the fallen order and before entering heaven must be purified and sanctified by exchanging his sins for Christ's righteousness rather than trusting human will, and in this way God guards His majesty against the idea that human will is the great power. It directs people to Christ, the only hope of salvation and the one who can give life, and the gospel is revealed throughout the Bible, including in Old Testament prophecies and in acts of turning people from sin and bringing forgiveness that pointed to the coming Saviour. Christ died because the Father's law could not be altered to excuse humanity's fallen condition.
Studying the Passage Rightly
The larger passage of Galatians 3:19-25 gives plain light about the law that is to be accepted, and fear of having to accept what it teaches about the law leads to turning away from that light. The verse itself holds truth that remains unchanged and will bear investigation and criticism without falling. Its meaning is to be investigated from the Scriptures by each person for himself, with meekness and fear, without making any man an authority.
The verse belongs to the disputed question about the law in Galatians on which many took a wrong position before fully understanding it. The church sustained a loss when people failed to cherish the Spirit of Christ in that controversy. Differences over the verse are not vital questions compared with the vital question of being a Christian with a Christian spirit that is true, open, and frank with one another.
Its truth is meant to sanctify those who hold it and to bring forth fruit after Christ's order, not fruit bitter as gall. When that truth does not produce fruits like Christ's but instead bitter results, it has not been rightly lived out.
The law was the schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ so they might be justified by faith, especially the moral law revealing sin and making them feel their need of pardon and peace through repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. That schoolmaster is both the moral code of the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law, with the whole sacrificial system founded on Christ and its shed blood pointing from Abel onward to His blood to be shed for the world. The law does this work by exposing sin and guilt and condemning the transgressor, yet it cannot remove guilt, pardon, or make righteous, so it drives the convicted sinner beyond itself to Christ the sin-bearing Saviour and His imparted righteousness. The passage in Galatians 3:19-25 gives plain light about this law that is to be accepted and investigated from the Scriptures by each person for himself, and its truth is meant to sanctify those who hold it and bring forth fruit after Christ's order.
Law as Schoolmaster
Galatians 3:24 speaks especially of the moral law as the schoolmaster that reveals sin and awakens sinners to feel their need of Christ and to flee to Him for pardon and peace through repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ, that they might be justified by faith. The sacrificial ceremony is also the schoolmaster bringing sinful people to consider Christ, with its work beginning at the beginning with Cain and Abel in the school of obedience where salvation by the blood of Jesus was taught through offerings pointing to Christ. God prepared the whole sacrificial system with Christ as the foundation of the whole system and of the whole Jewish economy, and the shedding of blood in sacrifice symbolized the blood of Christ to be shed for the world, while Cain's refusal to accept God's plan to be saved by Christ's blood led to Abel's death.
The offerings beginning with the sacrifice associated with Abel symbolized Christ's blood shed for the world, with Christ as the foundation of the Jewish economy. The schoolmaster that brings sinners to Christ is both the ceremonial law and the moral code of the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial law was given by Christ and, though no longer to be observed, remains glorious and worthy of its divine Originator, and Paul set it before the Jews to show its true position and value, its place in the plan of redemption, and its relation to the work of Christ.
Its sanctuary service typified grand truths to be revealed through successive generations: the cloud of incense ascending with Israel's prayers shows His righteousness that alone makes the sinner's prayer acceptable, the bleeding victim testified of a Redeemer to come, and the visible token of divine presence shone from the holy of holies, and through these types faith was kept alive through ages of darkness and apostasy until the advent of the promised Messiah. Christ was the originator of the Jewish system of sacrifices, and His death fulfilled the typical law. The moral law exposed sin in Saul's experience: in its light he saw himself as a sinner though he had thought he kept it, and the law thus led him to repent and trust Jesus as Saviour.
Leading Sinners to Christ
God's requirements act as a moral mirror, revealing a person's defects and leading that person to Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour, and in this way the law serves as schoolmaster to bring people to Christ. It brings people to Christ by exposing their sin and their need of a Saviour, as the Holy Spirit applies its principles to the heart and Christ's life makes those principles plain, thereby revealing the need for His cleansing blood and justifying righteousness so that they may be justified by faith. It exposes sin by condemning the transgressor, yet it cannot pardon or make the sinner righteous, and its condemning work drives people to Christ, who died for sin and imparts His righteousness so they may be presented to the Father in His righteous character.
The law acts as schoolmaster by revealing sin and the sinner's guilt, but it cannot remove guilt or pardon the transgressor; it points the sinner beyond repentance to Christ the sin-bearing Saviour and to justification by faith. It is holy, just, and good, and by exposing sin it makes sin unmistakable and exceedingly sinful, while warning and instructing people in the way back to God and showing sinners their guilt and need to return to loyalty to God. It cannot remove guilt or pardon, but points the sinner to Christ the remedy and to justification by faith.
When obeyed in practical life the law exposes sin and leads people to recognize Christ as sin's only remedy, for the law itself is holy, just, and good, but sin uses the commandment to reveal how sinful sin is and to bring the sinner to a sense of need. Self-righteousness resists this purpose, while the repentant sinner finds deliverance through Jesus Christ and learns willing obedience and the Saviour's meekness and lowliness. The law of God points the sinner to Christ as his only hope, for after sinning man became part of the fallen order and before entering heaven must be purified and sanctified by exchanging his sins for Christ's righteousness rather than trusting human will, and in this way God guards His majesty against the idea that human will is the great power. It directs people to Christ, the only hope of salvation and the one who can give life, and the gospel is revealed throughout the Bible, including in Old Testament prophecies and in acts of turning people from sin and bringing forgiveness that pointed to the coming Saviour. Christ died because the Father's law could not be altered to excuse humanity's fallen condition.
Studying the Passage Rightly
The larger passage of Galatians 3:19-25 gives plain light about the law that is to be accepted, and fear of having to accept what it teaches about the law leads to turning away from that light. The verse itself holds truth that remains unchanged and will bear investigation and criticism without falling. Its meaning is to be investigated from the Scriptures by each person for himself, with meekness and fear, without making any man an authority.
The verse belongs to the disputed question about the law in Galatians on which many took a wrong position before fully understanding it. The church sustained a loss when people failed to cherish the Spirit of Christ in that controversy. Differences over the verse are not vital questions compared with the vital question of being a Christian with a Christian spirit that is true, open, and frank with one another.
Its truth is meant to sanctify those who hold it and to bring forth fruit after Christ's order, not fruit bitter as gall. When that truth does not produce fruits like Christ's but instead bitter results, it has not been rightly lived out.